Traditional Christmas Food in Puerto Rico

On the American mainland, you might have fruitcake, eggnog, and ham for Christmas. On Puerto Rico, Christmas is like other major feast days, such the Puerto Rican Thanksgiving holiday, when people living on the island have a particular menu.

Take a look at how those living in Puerto Rico have morphed American holiday delights into their own version of deliciousness, such as Puerto Rican specialties: roast suckling pig, tembleque,coquitos, and pasteles.

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Tembleque

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Tembleque, which means "trembling or wiggly," in Spanish, is a coconut-based pudding that goes down smooth and easy after a rich holiday meal. Creamy and jiggly, this Puerto Rican sweet treat is perfect for the holidays, parties, or anytime a special dessert is in order.

Tembleque is made by cooking coconut milk, milk (optional), salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, and sugar. Recipes may include spices such as cloves, vanilla, and nutmeg or extra flavorings such as rum, orange blossom water and cream of coconut, or may be garnished with mint, almonds, fruit, flavored syrup or chocolate shavings.

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Lechón Asado

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Lechon, or roast suckling pig, is a regional specialty. Due to the amount of time it takes to prepare a pig on a spit, it is a weekend tradition and a favorite for group gatherings.

At Christmas, a whole spit-roasted pig is like the Puerto Rican version of a Christmas table's centerpiece, as it is on display, with its juicy flesh encased in an outer layer of fat and crackling skin.

It is often a topic of conversation by the family for a while, like which farm it came from, what herbs and seasoning were used to prepare it, and, usually the most important question, "When will it be ready?"

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Pasteles

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Pasteles, or meat pastries, are a traditional Christmas food. Usually made with pork, they're wrapped in plantain leaves for a festive, Christmas-gifty look.

They are similar to Mexican tamales but are made from green banana or plantain and yautia (a starchy locally grown tuber) as the masa. They are quite labor-intensive to prepare, which is why you find them only on special occasions.

Assembling a typical pastel involves a large sheet of parchment paper, a strip of banana leaf that has been heated over an open flame to make it supple, and a little annatto oil on the leaf. The masa is then placed on a banana leaf and stuffed with the meat mixture. The paper is then folded and tied with kitchen string to form packets. It is not unusual for a family to make 50 to 100 are made at a time.

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Coquito

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Coquito is Puerto Rico's take on eggnog. It is a coconut-based alcoholic beverage that combines rum, cinnamon, cloves, coconut milk, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and egg. It's a rich, creamy drink, and usually, almost every Puerto Rican household will have a glass ready on Christmas Day.

Coquitos are usually served in shot glasses or small cups and are garnished with grated nutmeg or cinnamon.

Coquitos are named for coqui, which is the common name for several species of small frogs that are native to Puerto Rico. They are onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call, which the males make at night.